Improvement in stave-dressing machine



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@fwn n@ DWL @n 5% M. PASCALv ADAMS, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

Lcttcrs'latent No. 102,467, dated May 3, 1870.

IMEROVBMENT INSTAVE-DRESSING- MACHINE.

The Schedule refen'ed to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, M. PASCAL ADAMS, of Athe city of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and nseful Improvement in Stave-dressing'Maehines; and I do hereby declare the following tol be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference beinghad to theaccompanying drawing, in two sheets, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, with the devices in proper position foraforward stroke of the ram;

Figure 2 is a like view, with the devices in position for the return stroke of the rain;

Figure 3 shows the vguide-rollers and the devices connected therewith, in perspective;

Figure 4 is a vertical cross-section through y-y, lig. 1, as it appears in looking toward the rear of the machine; and y Figure 5 is a like section, yfy, as it appears in looking toward the guide-rollers.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in cach.

The nature of my invention consists- First, in the use of weights or weighted levers op erating by pulley-cords, or other equivalent device, on the journals of guiding-rollers, by which the stave is guided inA passing through between the knives.

Second, i'n'so combiningr a weighted drop-leverwith the ram, or with the slide in which the ram operates, that the ram will alternately and automatically be, thrown into and out of gear with diiferent propelling gear-wheels. y

Third, in a ram having a double-toothed rack with an arrangement of gear-wheels by which, at the proper points, the motion Aof the ram is automatically reversed.

Fourth, in the arrangement of holding and tripping devices, by which one toothed rack on the ram will be automaticallythrown out of gear, and another toothed rack/ on the same ram will, at the same time, be thrown into gear, for the purpose of reversing the motion of the ram; and i Fifth, in the arrangement of devices for securing the return or upward motion of the drop-lever.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improvement,I will proceed to describe its construction and mode of operation.

The devices employed are set and adjusted in any suitable frame-work A A', and the power to operate the machine is applied to a main shaft, a.

Between the cross-supports A'the knife-block B is placed, and in this stave-dressing knives, eurvedlongitudinally and of any desirable' construction, are set and adjusted in any of the ways known to the art.

Immediately in front ofthe knife-block, and so as to comein front of the opening of the knives, is

placed a pair of guide-rollers, b, the journals of the rollers being set in sliding blocksb, which may move back and forth in the slide-rests b on the top and bottom of the machine.

The object of these sliding-blocks b is', by the means presently to be described; to apply pressure to the journals of the rollers, so that they will take a firm bite on the stave as it passes through, and guide it properly in passing through between the knives.

From each block or bearing b', a cord, c', passes to the side of the machine opposite thereto, and over a pulley, c.

The outer end of each cord c' maybe attached to a weight which hangs freely, or to a lever, fl', which is so arranged with a fixed fulcrum and weiglit,`ll, that the gravity of the weight will be brought t`o bear on the cord cf, the weight at the same tiine being adjustable ou its lever d', so as to bring greater or lesser power to bear on each roller b, according as the staves are thiek or thin, or to compensate for extra resistance caused by either knife becoming dull, or-oaused in .other ways. lhe operatorA of the machine may then, by attending carefully to the adjustment of the several weights (l, so regulate the pressure on the rollers b that they will guide the staves properly in being passed through and dressed.

Running lengthways of the machine, directly in front of the rollers l), is a ram-rest C, grooved in itsv upper face, and in the groove so made the rain C is operated, so as, by its forward motion, to drivean undressed stave through between the rollers b -a-nd the dressingknives, and by its reverse motion to come into position for the insertion of a new stave.

It has a toothed-rack e ou its upper face, by which it is propelled forward, and a similar' toothed-rack, e',

on its lower face, to which a reversing motion is to be applied.

The power necessary to operate the ram is communicated through au axle, a, gear-wheels a', i fi', and o, or through other combination of gearing substantiallythe same; the last wheel o meshing into the toothed rack e, and imparting to it a forward motion. At the sametime I adjust ou theshaft a, or on any other shaft suitably placed which will give a motion the reverse of that of the wheel o, a wheel, o', in such position that, playing through a box in the under face of the ram-rest C, it will mesh into the toothed rack e' on the underside of the ram G, and, when in gear, operate it with a motion the reverse of that imparted to it by the wheel o. But there is a suicieut vertical distance between the Working faces of the wheels o o that the ram E, while operated by one, will play clear of the other.

To the rear of the machine are shown the devices by which I shift the rear end of the ram-rest C up or.,

down, and with it the ram E, so as to throw the toothed racks e e of the latter alternately into or out of gear with the wheels oo.

In plummerblocks F, I hangan axle which carries an eccentric or cam, j, and a drop-lever, g, the latter having at its outer end a heavy Weight, g'. These are so adjusted to each other that, as the lever g goes down, the cani f comes up, and by coming upagainst the under side of the ram-rest O, at or near its rear end, raises it up, so as to make the toothed rack e mesh into .the wheel o, in which position it is held by pins n in the sides of the ram-rest O, resting on steps n in the upright spring m. Then, as the naehine 0perates, the ram E is propelled forward,'andit, by a lug, s, which engages a fixed lever, f', on the eccentric shaft f, brings the lever g again to an uprightposi-` tion, where it remains supported by the cross-beam A' ytill'the returning stroke of the ram E; a lug, s', af-

fixed to the ram, strikes it, throws it back, when the eccentric. fagain throws the ram int-o gearvwth the wheel o for a new forward motion. v

VTo the cross-beam D I aflix an upright rest and spring m on each side of the ram-rest C, and, the better to secure uniformity of action, bind the two toe gethcr at the top by a cross-piece, on

Each of these springs has a stcp,fn,by which, when the ram is in gear with the upper wheel o, the ramrest C' is supported by the use of pins' n.

Inthe rain E, at such points as may be necessary, so as to terminate the forward stroke of the ram E when the stave has been forced through, Iinsert tripper pins x x, which, coming against the springs m, force them forward, whereby the pins n are released from the steps n'.

, The ram-rest C and rznn Ethen drop. The toothed rack e no longer meshes into the wheel o, but, the toothed rack e,on the under side of the ram E, is made to engage the wheel o', which, by its action, revelses the motion of the rain E, and carries it back till its gearing connections are again changed, in the manner Valready described.

For dressing staves of different lengths I make the lugs s adjustable, so as, when the ram E is making its backward stroke, to throw the lever g back sooner or later, as may be preferred, whereby the reverse motion of the ram is terminated, and the ram is thrown into gear for a new forward motion.

As, in'case of accident, itis sometimes necessary to reverse the motion of the ram E, I provide for releasing the pins n from the steps n' by means of an arm, h, leading forward from the springs m to a lever, 7a.'.

By shifting the lever-handle Abackward the springs m are thrown forward, and the gearing of the ram E is shifted from the upper wheel o to the lower o', and the motion is reversed.

' In the use of a weighted drop-lever' and cam or eecentric for shifting the gearing so asl to change th'e motion, I do not lilnit myself to the exact mode of application shown, since substantially the same devices may be applied to the movable bearings of the wheels by which the ram E is driven forward and back, in#

stead of to the ram itself, or to the ram-rest, the essential feature of myiinvention being, by the use of a weighted lever and cam or eccentric, to shift the gearing and reverse the motion of the machinery by which the ram is driven. It will thus be seen that the machine operates continuously1 and automatically, requiring only that the staves be fed in.

I am aware that springs have been used to produce a pressure against the rollers b in stave-dressing machines, but they are objectionable, as they do not, at different points of distension or compression, act with a uniform force.

By the use of weights attached to the ends of cords c', or hung onto the levers, as shown, I ain able to secure a pressure on the bearings of the' rollers which is always constant and uniform, and, when le-v vers are used, I ain able to make the pressure adjustable, as above set forth. Bent levers may be'substituted for the pulleys, as their mechanical equivalents.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Ihe arrangement of 'weights d adjustable on levers cl,bearings bof a pair of feed-rollers, each weight being connected with the bearing of the opposite roller, as described.

2. A weighted drop-lever, g', operating au eccentric or cam, f, in combination with a doubletoothed rack ram, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

A ram, with doubletoothed rack, in combination with gear-wheels o o', a tripping device to operate at vone end of its stroke, and eccentric at the other end,

arranged and operated substantially as and` for the purposes set forth.

4. A lug, s, adjustable in they rain E, so arranged with reference to a weighted lever, g, and eccentric f,

as, in the manner described, to terminate the reverse motion of the ram.

5. A lug, s, attached to the ra1n,in combination with a lever, f', rigidly attached to the eccentric shaft, for bringing the weighted lever back to a vertical p0- sition, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I, the said M. PASCAL ADAMS, have hereunto set my hand.

Witnesses: i M. PASCAL ADAMS.

A. S. NIcnoLsoN, Tnos. B. Kenn. 

